Ex Marks The Spot – Placing stones on our growth...

Forgetting that a sound mind is a sound life, we keep on watering the stones at the gaze of unmerited sunlight instead of removing the stone for our hard work and God’s handiwork to take effect. We choose to hold back the things and the people that may have let us go.

It was one good afternoon when my sister and I had managed to sneak rice or beans (I can’t remember which one but it was one of the two) out of our grandma’s kitchen. We went to an uncemented area in the compound of the house, planted the seed and watered it. We did not stop there. So that we could remember the exact spot where we planted the seed amidst the other little plants that surrounded our “work,” we placed a big stone on top of what we planted.

Thinking about this now, I realize our “smartness” (in a sarcastic tone) and that many people live their lives this way. The rice or beans symbolizes the way that we have been blessed. The water symbolizes the hard work and effort to make our seeds grow. The stone symbolizes lack of forgiveness; grudges, unexpected setbacks, the “ex” and former events or people that we allow to take seats in our emotions.

Forgetting that a sound mind is a sound life, we keep on watering the stones at the gaze of unmerited sunlight instead of removing the stone for our hard work and God’s handiwork to take effect. We choose to hold back the things and the people that may have let us go. For example, “If you see what I did to lagbaja and tamedu, they will live to remember what they did to me…”  Does that sound familiar? Yet, we want to progress.

I love Joyce Meyer’s definition of humility concerning such stones and in the path of growth. She says, humility is the ability to hold yourself back when you know you have power to do wickedness over a situation or to a person. Ex - the lack of humility can be sampled by the the previous stones that you keep watering which mark the spot of your regression. Take them off and grow.